muppetfandomcom-20200223-history
DC Comics
DC Comics is one of the major publishing companies producing comic book properties today. Founded in 1934, the company owns a number of popular characters whose stories have been translated to many media outlets including magazines, television and motion pictures. Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman are the company's flagship characters; their other characters include Supergirl, Green Lantern, and Captain Marvel. Influence Muppet Mentions Visual Mentions Image:Colorsupermanad.jpg|1969 advertisement for Sesame Street found in the November issues of nearly every major title published by DC, including Superman, Wonder Woman, and Jerry Lewis. Image:FiftyWhoMadeDCGreat.jpg|''Fifty Who Made DC Great'' (1985), in which Jim Henson cites DC Comics characters as some of his favorites. Image:Mistermiracle.jpg|In Mister Miracle #7 (1989) art by Joe Philips, a Kermit the Frog poster appears behind Big Barda. File:Jla45.jpg|''Justice League America'' #45 (1990) by Keith Giffen, JM DeMatteis and Russell Braun Image:Impulse09.jpg|''Impulse'' #9 (1995) art by Humberto Ramos features the children's section of a book store decorated with Sesame Street bookends. Supermantoyman-kermitcookiemonster.jpg|''Superman/Toyman'' #1 (1996) illustrated by Stuart Immonen, features a Kermit and Cookie Monster doll in a toy store Image:Adcu13.JPG|''Adventures in the DC Universe'' #13 (1998) by Steve Vance shows Impulse singing a familiar song. Image:TickleMeAmmo.jpg|''Superman Villains: Secret Files and Origins'' (1998) by Evan Dorkin features a faux catalogue of devices sold by the Toyman that references Tickle Me Elmo. Image:Preacher41.jpg|''Preacher'' #41 (1998) by Garth Ennis includes one of the more popular references to the way in which Muppet characters are performed. JSA13.jpg|''JSA'' #13 (2000) by David Goyer and Geoff Johns Image:Kafka.jpg|In Automatic Kafka #2 (2002) by Joe Casey, The Warning blackmails Agent Stahl by threatening to reveal his unique activities while watching Sesame Street, insulting Maria in the process. Image:Fables_34.jpg|''Fables'' #34 (2005) by Bill Willingham shows Jack and his lawyer scouting a studio near "Jim Henson Studios", which also shares a distinct similarity to Charlie Chaplin Studios. Image:BirdsofPrey95.jpg|''Birds of Prey'' #95 (2006) by Gail Simone depicts one character hacking into a villain's computer software, making it play the "''Sesame Street'' Theme". Image:Ex_Machina.jpg|In Ex Machina #17 (2006) by Brian K. Vaughan, Commissioner Angotti laments the use of puppets in a political protest, calling those using them "Sesame Street rejects". Image:atom13Kermit.jpg|''The All-New Atom'' #13 (2007) by Gail Simone shows the title character riding a toad and calling it Kermit the Frog. Image:Detective834.jpg|In Detective Comics #834 (2007) by Paul Dini, the Joker leaves lyrics to "The Muppet Show Theme" as a possible clue for Batman and Zatanna. Image:Nightwing_135.jpg|In Nightwing #135 (2007) by Marv Wolfman, Vigilante refers to Nightwing as "Kermit" and references "The Rainbow Connection." Image:sentences.jpg|DC's Vertigo label published an autobiography of Percy Carey featuring references to his childhood on the set of Sesame Street. Image:Booster_Gold.jpg|In Booster Gold #8 (2008) by Geoff Johns, Blue Beetle compares Hawkman to another giant bird. Image:Dcuholidayspecial.jpg|In DCU Holiday Special #1 (2008) by Alan Burnett, Red Arrow refers to Shaggyman as Cookie Monster. Image:Braveandbold25.jpg|''The Brave and the Bold'' #25 (2009) by Adam Beechen Image:Gothamcitysirens4.jpg|In Gotham City Sirens #9 (2010) by Paul Dini, Harley Quinn is seen to have a Kermit the Frog doll on her bed. Image:Tinytitans26-oscar.png|''Tiny Titans'' #26 (2010) by Art Baltazar and Franco. A "green holiday" (St. Patrick's Day) themed issue features a green suited character (Gizmo) hiding in a trashcan and laughing Oscar the Grouch's trademark grumpy laugh, "Heh, heh."Confirmed by Art Baltazar by email via Scott Hanson Image:Zatanna8cover.png|''Zatanna'' #8 (2011) cover art by Stephane Roux Image:Zatanna8.png|In Zatanna #8 (2011) by Paul Dini, Zatanna recalls her disastrous appearance on Sesame Street. Image:Jla80pggiant.JPG|''Justice League of America 80-Page Giant 2011'', segment written by Adam Glass Image:Jackoffables50.JPG|''Jack of Fables'' #50 (2011) by Bill Willingham and Matthew Sturges Image:Fables127.jpg|''Fables'' #127 (2013) by Bill Willingham and Matthew Sturges, in which Flycatcher sings "Rubber Duckie" before taking a bath. Convergenceswampthing.jpg|''Convergence: Swamp Thing'' #1 (2015) by Len Wein Suicidesquadrebirth1.jpg|''Suicide Squad: Rebirth'' #1 (2016) by Rob Williams Flintstones_comic_12.jpg|''The Flintstones" #12 (2017) by Mark Russell Verbal Mentions In the first season episode "White Knights"of the TV series DC's Legends of Tomorrow, Sara Lance (White Canary) says "Everything would have been fine, if Big Bird over here haven't freaked out" referring to Kendra (Hawkgirl) that panicked during a mission to break into the Pentagon. References Image:SSNewsIndoor.jpg|In a Sesame Street News Flash segment, Kermit the Frog interviews Telly at a daycare center, standing in front of pictures of DC heroes including Superman, Wonder Woman, and Hawkman. Image:TingoDCcomic.jpg|Tingo reads Starman v.2 #59 in the Sesame English episode "Make Me a Sandwich". Whowatchesthewatchdog.jpg|The title of the Dog City episode "Who Watches the Watch Dog?" is a reference to Alan Moore's Watchmen. Image:Tms7.sdcc.jpg|In a variant cover to The Muppet Show Comic Book: Family Reunion #7, the Muppets are seen wearing costumes similar to Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, and Robin, as well as several Marvel Comics characters. Cook-catwoman.jpg|In The Muppets Kitchen with Cat Cora episode "World's Biggest Sandwich" Beauregard calls Cat Cora, Catwoman; a DC Comics villain. ;Verbal references * In The Muppets episode "Generally Inhospitable", Pache calls Sweetums "Swamp Thing" when he's being held captive. Trivia Geoff Johns, who has referenced the Muppets in several of his scripts for DC Comics, including a recurring reference in several issues of Green Lantern, features in a video promoting "The 2014 Celebrity Pet Adoption Calendar from Anne and Wil Wheaton". In his home, Johns has an Animal collectible plate on display behind him. Connections * Famed comic book illustrator Alex Ross, having been first exposed to the institution of a superhero by Super Grover in his childhood, painted a lavish cover for the box of Palisades Toys' Super Grover Action Figure which was later released commercially as a poster print. * The 1982 book and audio set, Justice League of America: The Lunar Invaders was directed and produced by Christopher Cerf. As such, a large number of Sesame Street employees are also featured as characters and worked as crew on the project. ** Produced and Directed by Christopher Cerf ** Engineering by Doug Epstein (engineer on the albums Born to Add and Jim Henson Presents Silly Songs ** Guest Piano Soloist: Genevieve Cerf (Christopher Cerf's wife) ** Narrated by Kathy Mullen ** Jerry Nelson as Green Lantern and Yuri Pudovkin ** Richard Hunt as The Flash and Han Chin ** Nile Rodgers (Sesame Street session guitaristNile Rodgers biography) as Kenan Masud ** Michael Kingsbury Frith as The Batman ** Frederick R. Newman as Red Tornado and an Alien ** Christopher Cerf as The Atom ** Special Thanks to Thaddeus Mumford, Jonathan Frith, Sharon Lerner *The Hanna-Barbera series Superfriends, which went through many incarnations between 1973 and 1985, featured several actors who also worked on Muppet/Henson productions. **Gordon Hunt was voice director (1980-1985) **Casey Kasem played Robin (1973-1985) **Ted Knight played the narrator (1973-1977) **Olan Soule played Batman (1979-1984) and Professor Martin Stein (1984-1985) **John Stephenson played Col. Willcox (1973) **Frank Welker played Marvin and Wonderdog (1973-1977), Mr. Mxyzptlk (1979-1985), and Darkseid and Kalibak (1984-1985) **William Woodson played the narrator (1977-1985) *The 2001 Cartoon Network animated series Justice League (and its retitled version, Justice League Unlimited) again featured many actors who had also worked on Muppet/Henson productions. **Ed Asner played Hephaestus in "Hawk and Dove" and Granny Goodness in "The Ties That Bind" **Jason Bateman played Hermes in "The Balance" **Ben Browder played Bat Lash in "The Once and Future Thing: Weird Western Tales" **Dan Castellaneta played a minister in "Maid of Honor" **Michael Dorn played Kalibak **Brad Garrett played Lobo in "Hereafter" **Mark Hamill played the Joker and Solomon Grundy in many episodes and the Trickster in "Flash and Substance" **William Hootkins played the commander in "The Terror Beyond" **Arte Johnson played Vermin Vunderbarr in "The Ties That Bind" **Michael McKean played the Sportsman in the episode "Legends" **Sam McMurray played Gilbert Hale and a reporter in "Fearful Symmetry" **Rob Paulsen played Lightray and Helmsman in "Twilight" **Robert Picardo played Blackhawk in "The Savage Time" and Amazo **Glenn Shadix played Mandragora in "Double Date" **Cree Summer played a female singer in "Fearful Symmetry" **Dave Thomas played Harv Hickman in "A Night of Shadows" and Ernst in "The Savage Time" *The 2008 direct-to-DVD animated feature based on Darwyn Cooke's graphic novel The New Frontier featured the following connections: **Townsend Coleman played Dr. Magnus **Neil Patrick Harris played The Flash **Kyle MacLachlan played Superman **Brooke Shields played Carol Ferris Other cast connections: *Will Arnett played Lieutenant Grass in Jonah Hex (2100 film) *John Barrowman played Malcolm Merlyn on Arrow (2012-), The Flash (2015), and Legends of Tomorrow (2016-) *Richard Belzer played Joe Kline on The Flash (1990-1991) *Ruth Buzzi played Aunt Minerva in Legends of the Superheroes: The Roast (1979) *Eugene Byrd played Andy Diggle on Arrow (8 episodes, 2015-2016) *Viola Davis played Amanda Waller in Suicide Squad (2016 film) *Michael Fassbender played Burke in Jonah Hex (2010 film) *Victor Garber plays Dr. Martin Stein on The Flash (2015) and Legends of Tomorrow (2016) *Irma P. Hall played Grandma Odessa in Steel (1997 film) *Mark Hamill played James Jesse/The Trickster on The Flash (1990) and The Flash (2015-2016) *Paula Marshall played Iris West in the pilot episode of The Flash (1990) *Jesse L. Martin plays Joe West on The Flash (2014-) *Howard Morris played Dr. Sivana in two Legends of the Superheroes specials (1979) *Richard Roundtree played Uncle Joe in Steel (1997 film) *William Schallert played Retired Man/Scarlet Cyclone in two Legends of the Superheroes specials (1979) Other connections come from the print division or across multiple media: *David Allikas wrote issues of The Unexpected (1979), Ghosts (1980-1981), G. I. Comics (1980-1986), House of Mystery (1981), Weird War Tales (1981-1982), and Sgt. Rock (1986-1987) *Del Close wrote for every issue of the anthology Wasteland (1987-1989) *John Costanza wrote and drew humorous one-pagers for Aquaman, House of Secrets, House of Mystery, Our Fighting Forces, Star Spangled War Stories (all 1970), and Weird War Tales (1972); pencils and inks for a story in Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew! (1982); and lettering on many DC titles, including Green Lantern (1970-1986), Jonah Hex (1982-1983), Swamp Thing (1985-1994), and Green Arrow (1988-1998) *Sholly Fisch has written many DC Comics, including "Super Friends", "Batman Beyond", and "Justice League Unlimited" *Rich Fogel wrote and/or story edited Superman (1998-2000), Batman Beyond (1999-2001), Justice League (2001-2004), and Krypto the Superdog (2006) as well as writing the comics Batman Beyond #9 (2000) and Justice League of America one-shot (2009) *Judith Hunt drew the two issue Robotech Defenders (1985) *Frank Springer drew one-shot stories for Batman (1967) and Detective Comics (1968), inked two issues of Superboy (1967-1968), drew "Dial H for Hero" stories and other material for House of Mystery (1968-1969), penciled and inked back-up "Secret Six" stories from The Brave and the Bold (two issues, 1975) and regularly in Action Comics (1988-1989), inked two issues of Tarzan (1976) and five issues of Superman (1977), penciled four issues of Green Arrow (1992), inked covers, and other assignments *Marv Wolfman wrote The New Teen Titans (1980-1988, 1994-1996), Detective Comics (1971, 1990), Action Comics (1980-1984, 1988, 2001), Batman (1980-1981, 1989-1990), Crisis on Infinite Earths (1985-1986), and many others, and wrote for the online game DC Universe Online (2011) Sources External Links *DC Comics official website Category:Comics Mentions Category:Superheroes Category:Influences